1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electronic flashlight apparatus and, more particularly, to an electronic flashlight apparatus having a variable flashlight illuminating direction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Up to the present, an electronic flashlight apparatus having a variable elevation angle of a light emission unit and a variable illuminating direction has been known from, for example, the JP Utility Model Laid-open Publication No. 55(1980)-42835.
When electronic flashlight apparatus having a variable illuminating direction is mounted on and used with a camera, a light emission unit may be set to an upwardly directing position (bounce lighting position) and the illuminating light emitted during shooting towards the ceiling or wall to illuminate an object indirectly by the reflected light is by way of a so-called bounce lighting. If the distance to an object is as short as, for example, 1 meter, the light emission unit may be slightly tilted towards the imaging lens to prevent uneven illumination produced due to insufficient illumination at both lower corners of the object which is brought about as a result of deviations between the optical axis of the imaging lens and that of the light emission unit. This position is referred to hereinafter as the near-distance shooting position.
However, the above-mentioned conventional electronic flashlight apparatus is comprised of a housing of the flashlight apparatus mounted on a camera body, and a separate light emission unit mounted on the housing for rotation in the elevating direction, so that the apparatus as a whole is increased in size, while water drops tend to intrude into the interior of the housing of the flashlight apparatus by way of interstices of the rotational section. In addition, the apparatus is poor in operability because the rotating operation for the light emission unit is performed manually.